TCC Library: Textbook Reserves

Step2: Ask a Librarian

Can an electronic version of the work be purchased and added to the Library's ebook collection?

Please contact a faculty librarian (or library@tacomacc.edu) so we can determine if an electronic copy of the work can be purchased. If so, your department will be responsible for purchasing it due to increased licensing needs.

If an electronic version does not exist, proceed to Step 3.

Step 3: Scanning - The Last Resort

If an electronic version of my selected work doesn’t exist and my department can’t purchase the text for all of my students, is there another way to make the item available for students?

You should not resort to scanning text until after you have determined that the above options are not possible.

Copying portions of works to share with students will often be fair use, and at times (especially in unusual circumstances, or with works that aren't otherwise commercially available) it may even be fair use to make lengthier copies.

If you do decide to scan pages from your selected work and share them with students, please understand that scanning is the faculty's responsibility. Also, please make sure you do the following:

1. Contact eLearning to see if they can help make your scanned copy accessible – support@tacomacc.edu

2. Distribute the scanned work to students using only their password-protected Canvas course site to ensure that access is limited to those enrolled in the course for this quarter only.

3. Scans of course material made during the COVID-19 public health emergency must include a special cover page with the following information for faculty and students about how to use and dispose of the scan:

This scan is being provided as part of Tacoma Community College’s effort to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. It is for your personal use only, and is only intended for use during the time when public health measures prevent access to your personal copy or a copy on physical reserve at the Library. Please discard this copy once you have access to your personal copy or to the physical copy at the Library, and do not share.

If you are a student with a disability and need accessible material, please contact TCC’s Access Services office at 253-460-4437 or email access@tacomacc.edu for assistance.

Alternative: Class Set - Department Purchase

Can your department purchase copies of the textbook to mail to students?

If you are planning to stick with your print textbook for the near future, consider asking your department to purchase textbooks for each student in your class.

The Library would catalog them and mark the books as belonging to TCC. We could check the books out to you for the entire quarter in our system, and your department would mail them to the enrolled students in your class. At the end of the quarter, students would return them to us, as they are able to, and of course, there would likely be some books not returned. The instructor would not be held accountable for these books – it would be considered an acceptable loss in an extraordinary time. Your department would need to replenish the supply for books that aren’t returned. The returned books would stay in the library until the next quarter, when we would check them out to you again for your department to distribute.

OER: Check Canvas Commons

Check Canvas Commons for already developed OER courses, both at TCC and in elsewhere in the CTC system of WA

• Preview over a dozen OER Canvas courses across the curriculum, created by TCC faculty and funded by eLearning
• Search or browse in Canvas Commons for courses with open licenses.
  • Not sure how to search Canvas Commons and import content? This "How do I use Commons?" online guide provides step-by-step illustrations. 
  • Do you want to share your own course content to Commons to help other TCC faculty? This "How do I share a course to Commons?" online guide provides instructions for how to do that.

Ask our OER Librarian

Contact the TCC OER Librarian, Jennifer Snoek-Brown, with questions about finding potential OER in your subject area that would fit your specific course.

OER Subject Guides

OER Subject Guides for faculty in over 30 curriculum areas - all updated to include links to openly licensed Canvas courses via Canvas Commons that you can "plug and play" into your Canvas course shells. 

Develop New OER

Develop your own OER – perhaps there’s no or very little OER in your subject area. eLearning may have funds to help with this development. Contact Instructional Designer and OER Coordinator, Dale Coleman, dcoleman@tacomacc.edu, for possibilities.